


In This and Every Universe

by JustSomeGirl92



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fix It Fic, Fluff, M/M, Post series finale, klance is canon king, lots of fluff, past allurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 01:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21046112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustSomeGirl92/pseuds/JustSomeGirl92
Summary: Keith and Lance finally open up about their feelings and what's been happening between them since the start.





	In This and Every Universe

**Author's Note:**

> This fix it fic takes place after the series finale. Everything is the same as the show. I know some of it was upsetting and weird but hopefully my interpretation of things helps show some motivation behind what the characters were doing and validates them a bit. Again, this is jut my opinion of how things happened and hopefully makes the finale season more bearable for everyone. No hate on Allurance by the way, I hope I did their relationship justice here.

Lance knew that Keith would talk about it eventually, that he was just being respectful and giving Lance time to grieve, to be ready for this conversation. He needed to be in the right headspace, to start things out on the right foot. It wasn’t an easy thing for him to admit, the sexual identity he’d clung so hard to his entire life was wrong. Although apparently the only one surprised by his coming out as bisexual was himself. Well, and his nephew but that didn’t really count considering the kid had to be told what that meant and then immedietly declared that he wanted to be bisexual too becuase it wasn’t fair to have to only chose girls or only boys but that was beside the point. The point was Lance thought more than enough time had passed for him to not only accept himself and his feelings but also to come to terms with the relationship between him and Allura. In the end, they had both given the other what they wanted but that nagging voice in the back of his head had been right, they weren’t what the other needed. 

“It’s been two years, what’s taking so long? Is this the right day?” Lance asked, frowning at his watch in annoyance. He half expected Pidge or Veronica to make a smart ass comment but everyone knew better than to engage. “Hello?” Lance said, louder this time and waving his arms to get someone, anyone’s attention. They were all just going about their business, not even looking up at the sky at all. “Would it kill Keith to give us a call and tell us he’s going to be late?”

“You sound just like my husband,” Curtis’ tone was almost bland and he barely even looked up from where Veronica was directing him to plug some device in. He didn’t even pretend to look at Shiro when he made a face. 

“Lance, you know what space travel is like.They’ll be here when they get here. Keith just spoke with Shiro like an hour ago, we know they’re coming. Just give them some time.”

“Keith talked to you an  _ hour  _ ago?” Lance demanded, stomping over to Shiro. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you put me on to talk to him?” 

Shiro took a step back, eyes wide as he held up a hand. “I did tell you?” he replied but it came out more a question than the firm statement he hoped. “I said Keith told me they would be here later today. I asked if he wanted to talk to the team but he said he’d see them soon anyway.”

“I know that!” Lance also knew his tone was too loud, that he looked like an idiot waving his arms and then crossing them over his chest in a sulk. That didn’t mean he could help doing it. Somehow, hearing Keith didn’t want to bother talking to them, to _him_, felt like a betrayal. “But I thought you meant he said that when he called you last week or something!” 

Shiro gave him a look that clearly said he was concerned about Lance’s overreactions. “I get it Lance, it’s still hard for all of us to be apart after relying so heavily on each other for so long. I don’t like Keith being away from us like this either but it’s something he needed to do. We all said we supported him and that means we have to do so even when it’s hard and all we want is for him to come home.”

Out of the corner of his eye Lance saw Pidge quietly get up and leave without looking at them or saying anything. For a moment Lance forgot his own anxiety and heartache, glancing at Hunk. His best friend shook his head in a muted gesture. “She said she doesn't think Keith considered this home anymore,” he said quietly in answer to the unasked question.

Lance wished he didn’t understand where that concern came from and he wished more than anything that it didn’t feel so true. 

~~~~~~~~

It was a few hours later when Keith finally arrived with Krolia. Lance wasn’t exactly patient in waiting his turn to greet his friend but he knew it would be worth it. Pidge lept on Keith, almost too tall to get away with it now. Hunk lifted him off the ground, bawling his eyes out and Shiro and Coran both embraced him.

“Hey, Lance,” Keith’s voice was soft but just as soothing as Lance remembered. He was holding out a hand tentatively, as though unsure the other man would take it. Lance stared at him a moment before reaching out and shaking his hand.

“Hey,” he croaked. Keith nodded, stepping back and following Coran inside, Pidge and Hunk blabbering on about the stuff they were working on. 

That was it? After all this time all he got was a handshake? He’d been waiting for an epic reunion, a long, tender embrace and burying his face in Keith’s shoulder, promising not to let him go. He didn’t even get a bro hug. 

“Something wrong?” Krolia asked from behind Lance’s left shoulder. She stood tall, hands behind her back as she watched Keith go with the others. Lance didn’t notice the way Shiro glanced at her with a raised eyebrow and the galra woman’s small nod of assurance. 

“No,” Lance sighed. “I just...missed him…” He was about to follow after the others but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Lance glanced up in surprise. 

“Then you should be happy he’s returned to you,” Krolia said. Her words were curt but her tone was warm. “He missed you too.” With a gentle squeeze to Lance’s shoulder she released him and started forward, stopping a few steps for Lance to catch up. 

~~~~~~~~

Dinner felt just like old times, the laughing, the bickering and teasing, the warm glances and easy atmosphere. Their group had grown and become better for it but the strong feelings of companionship and trust between the paladins hadn’t changed. It felt like no time at all had passed and Lance was once again sure that the looks and the teasing from Keith still held the same unspoken emotions, the words unsaid but written between the lines. 

As the days past, the feeling only strengthened and Lance's resolve that they had something real solidified. They spent a lot of time together, Kieth visiting with Lance’s family and helping out around the place. At the moment they were enjoying Lance’s large backyard as they had taken to doing most evenings, sharing strong Cuban coffee and admiring the view while throwing sticks for Kosmo to run about. It was nice for him to get away from being cooped up in a space ship so long. 

“How are you doing” Keith had asked in that soft, mature voice of his on the second night of his visit, the first time they spent their evening like this, alone together. 

“I’m...good,” Lance had replied, turning to smile at him. “I’m really good. I think I’m where I’m supposed to be right now and I’m happy with it. Happy with who I am.”

“I’m glad.” Keith had said it as though he were confessing something. “I was worried about you, you know.” He’d glanced away and looked up at the slowly darkening sky. “I meant what I said back then. You have a lot to offer and I was afraid you might close yourself off after what happened with Allura. I know it hurt you. It hurt all of us but you and her….” Keith trailed off and Lance wasn’t sure if he imagined the small smile on the other’s face. “She was special to you and you were special to her. She wouldn’t have wanted you to be sad or lonely. I think she trusted us to look after you when she-” Keith stopped, turning to look at Lance. “Otherwise she never would have left you. I don’t want to let her down.” 

There was a brief moment where Lance felt his weight shift, his body move forwards as though to kiss the man beside him but Keith wasn’t looking at him anymore, he was petting Kosmo, the dog laid out at his feet. 

Instead, Lance leaned back, watching with fond eyes, His gaze traveled back up to Keith’s face and saw the gentle blush.  _ ‘She trusted you,’  _ Lance amended to himself. 

“Can I talk to you?” he asked suddenly. He wasn’t entirely aware of having come to the decision to finally get this out in the open but he was glad for having blurted it out of for no other reason then having to say something. 

Keith glanced at him, his braid flopping back over his shoulder from where it had fallen forward after bending to take the stick from Kosmo. “Sure,” he replied easily, tossing the stick before shoving his hands in his pockets and turning to face Lance. “What’s up?”

Lance’s eyes followed the movement, glancing at Keith’s forearms where he’d rolled up the sleeves of his red plaid shirt. He stared as though that pale skin held the script he desperately needed to be able to address the situation between them. Then the muscles flexed, pulling his mind into a different direction. He glanced up quickly, meeting Keith’s dark eyes, watching him still and patient. Lance was still so unused to this Keith. The Keith he’d first met was so reckless, so impulsive. This version seemed to have all the time in the world and it was Lance who experienced the annoyance of having to wait for him. 

“What’s with this whole...zen Keith thing? Shiro’s nagging finally sinking in?”

Keith looked surprised before his eyebrows furrowed and he regarded Lance as though he wasn’t sure if he should be insulted. “What do you mean?”

“I mean- !” Lance exclaimed before realising he didn’t want to start yelling at Keith. He took a breath and continued in a softer tone, stepping forward. “I mean I’ve been waiting for you and you...you’re just flying around the universe with your mom and your galra pals. Every time we talk I think you’ll...that you’ll say something but you don’t. I’m ready, Keith. I want to move on. With you. I want to be- I want to have the life I was supposed to have. I don’t want to keep living in the shadow of Voltron anymore. That part of our lives is over now. I’ve grieved it- .I’ve grieved her as much as I can but I know she’d want us, all of us, to be happy again. Otherwise what she did has no meaning.”

If Lace had thought that was going to make everything clear, he was wrong. If anything Keith looked even more confused than he had before. “Lance I...I don’t know what you want from me…” he said quietly. His dark eyes shifted, looking away and to the side. Kosmo seemed to sense the tense moment and was sitting off to the side, stick resting by his front paws and ears alert. 

“I want,” Lance stopped, so much going through his head in the span of a few seconds. Had he read everything wrong? No, he was sure that after all they’d been through, they both felt the same way. There was a pull there, one that Lance had tried everything to escape and yet finally giving into it was the only thing he’d wanted for so long now. “You. I want us.”

Whatever Keith had been expecting Lance to say, that wasn’t it.

“I...I don’t…” Keith sputtered and stopped. He wasn’t sure how to respond to a statement like that. Briefly he wondered if he’d been caught in some kind of wormhole on the trip to Earth and maybe he was in another dimension now, somewhere where he and Lance….

“I came out,” Lance was saying quietly, obviously uncomfortable with’s Keith’s silence. “To myself. To everyone. I can admit it now, that I have feelings for you. It’s still scary but it’s...a different kind of scary. I was waiting for you to….” To what? What had he been waiting for? Suddenly it all felt so  _ stupid _ ! Of course Keith hadn’t said anything, they’d never talked about having feelings for each other. Lance assumed it had been all the unspoken things between them, those little moments that held so much possibility, so much that he was too much of a coward to grab onto. He hadn't even considered the idea that Keith had been scared to grab on too. The assumption that the only thing stopping Keith was his belief that Lance was straight was laughable now. 

“Just because you like guys, I didn’t think that automatically meant you liked me…” Keith whispered as though hearing what was going through Lance’s head. He wasn’t looking at him, head down and shoulders hunched. 

Lance took a step back. “I...I have to go. I’m sorry Keith…”

~~~~~

Keith’s knock on the door a few hours later made Lance jump. It also made things very clear, namely that Lance had just spent several hours sitting in his room and staring at the pictures pinned on his cork board on the wall, looking at the smiling faces of his friends and family and wondering where he’d gone wrong. 

After the second knock, Lance realised he hadn’t said anything. “Come in!” he shouted, much too quickly and too loudly considering that everyone was probably asleep by now. Everyone except Keith apparently who stepped in and closed the door behind him. 

Lance swallowed, looking down to the floor. Kieth stood there by the door awkwardly. 

“I think we have some stuff to talk about,” he said quietly. Lance would have laughed at that if he wasn’t mortified. It was a bit of an understatement for sure.

“I don’t know if there’s much to talk about,” Lance sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He leaned forward, still perched on the edge of his bed and folded his arms over his knees. “I misread things between us. Or I was too late. I don’t know. Does it matter?”

“Yea, I think so,” Kieth replied. He hesitated but Lance eventually felt him move closer, sitting down slowly at his side. Lance didn’t look up and Keith didn’t say anything else. 

“It’s just….” Lance had no idea where to start. “I thought we had this understanding, that we would end up together. I think things just weren’t right back then. It’s my fault, I wasn’t ready to be with you. I wanted to but it would mean admitting something that I just couldn't do yet. I’m sorry. I should have been strong enough.”

“Don’t apologize,” Keith said quickly. He looked hurt when Lance glanced at him but the dark haired man quickly averted his gaze and the expression changed to something more closed off. “You don’t owe me anything. You did what was right for you and I could never hold that against you, Lance. I only want the best for you.”

“I want that for you too,” Lance whispered. He groaned, putting his face in his hands for a beat before looking back up and continuing. “I guess I did what was easiest and tried to pass it off as doing something right for Allura and for me too but in the end I think I only neglected us.” He gestured to the space between him and Keith. “Now I’m not sure how to fix it.”

The old Keith would have jumped right in but he’d gotten better. Lance peaked at him out of the corner of his eyes, sighing when all he saw was Keith’s concerned face. “You’re so...different,” Lance huffed an amused laugh. “Where’s that hot head I fell in love with? I want the impulsive, daring Keith again.”

The other man’s eyes widened in surprise, unsure where to start first. “You’re the one who used to tell me to think first,” he replied defensively, crossing his arms. Lance threw his head back and laughed, clearly Keith couldn’t resist reacting to the ribbing. Maybe some things didn’t change after all. He cracked a small smile when Lance nudged his shoulder with his own. 

“I was too afraid to admit to myself how much I liked you. It was scary. Not just the feelings but because having to acknowledge them meant I’d have to reevaluate myself, everything I thought was true about who I was,” Lance sighed, rubbing his face. 

Keith waited patiently for more but Lance remained silent, only huffing out a breath. “You didn’t know before?” he asked, remembering what Lance had said about wanting the old impulsive Keith back. 

“I knew,” Lance admitted, shrugging his shoulders. “But it was always something small, something that I could brush off. I never felt this strongly about someone before. It’s more than just an attraction. Allura was safe. I was attracted to her, I think that was obvious but after getting to know her, the romantic feelings were...something else. We were friends, good friends and I always cared about her but it just...wasn’t the same.”

Keith nodded, glancing at his feet and appearing deep in thought. Fuck, Lance loved that little crease between his eyebrows when he did that. 

“I wondered about that,” Keith admitted finally. “You flirted with Allura alot at first but then it kind of stopped and all of a sudden it was like you were obsessed with her worse than before. I thought maybe because I wasn't around that much I missed something.”

Lance laughed, more at himself than anything. “Yea, well it was just that my feelings for you were pretty much impossible to ignore at that point and I just missed you so fucking much.” Lance groaned, his shoulders slumping as he shook his head at himself. “I could feel Allura slipping away too, moving towards Lotor. I was afraid to lose that connection with her, the one thing I could use to hide behind instead of facing my real feelings. I didn’t want her to get hurt either. I guess I was obsessed with her in a way, desperate is a good word. I did want her but...it wasn’t for the right reasons. It wasn’t to just be with her and that’s not fair.”

It made sense in a way that Keith hadn’t been able to put together before. He’d long since given up trying to understand what had happened while he was gone. Pidge and Hunk weren’t even much use as they said they’d been busy on their own and hadn’t noticed anything. Shiro clearly hardly knew what was going on around him most of the time and Coran was just as stumped about Lance’s sudden romantic streak as Keith. Allura had seemed on board with it though, which was another mystery Keith couldn’t understand. For all intents and purposes she was half in love with Lotor by that point. Okay, so he turned out to not be as great as she thought but he was still confused at the quick turn around she’d done, running into Lance’s arms with barely any time to breath, jumping right into the deep end. 

“But Allura was clearly into you,” Keith said, disguising his question as a statement. 

“Sort of,” Lance shrugged. He dropped his gaze from Keith’s face down to his hands as he wrung them in his lap. “She was running too. She loved Lotor. They would have been good together if...you know….But I think she was scared that she would never get that chance to feel normal. She was young when her whole world was destroyed and then she had all this responsibility. She didn’t have the chance to just be in love and with everything happening I think she was scared she would never get that chance. 

Suddenly Keith could see the pieces falling into place. Allura was heartbroken, she wanted comfort and the chance to feel what it was like to be loved. Lance was scared too. He wanted the chance to have the love he’d always thought he wanted, with a beautiful and amazing girl. They’d given each other that experience or at least as close to it as they could get with so much still keeping them apart. Allura and Lance hadn’t shown much romantic interest in each other before but it was clear that loved each other in a different way even if their hearts both belonged to someone else. 

“I got to take her home to meet my family, something I always wanted to do. And she had that experience of a normal date, not being expected to represent her whole race or being watched and guarded. She got to dress up for something that wasn’t a diplomatic meeting for once. I think she enjoyed it,” Lance was saying wistfully. “Plus Coran finally got to intimidate a suitor.” Either he ignored Keith’s silence and confusion or he was too wrapped up in his memories. 

Keith nodded carefully and reached out to Lance. “I understand. I think it’s great that you could be there for each other like that.” 

His smile was gentle and so sincere. Lance blinked at the man beside him, really took him in. Keith was older than when they started out but he was still just as beautiful. That scene flashed in his mind, the last time Kieth had given him that same smile. It was just before his date with Allura when Lance had confided in him his insecurity and Kieth had known just what to say before they watched the sunset together. 

_ “I meant it,” Keth had said. “You have a lot to offer.” _

Before he really knew what he was doing, Lance was leaning in. Keith either didn’t see it coming or let it happen.  _ Probably the later _ , Lance thought to himself as their lips connected.  _ Hopefully _ .

Going by the fact that Keith didn’t push him away and even leaned into it, Lance had to think he was probably right. 

He’d never kissed a boy before but Lance didn’t think of it like that, all he could think about was the fact that he was kissing Keith, finally kissing Keith. And Keith was kissing back. 

If he had been expecting fireworks to go off and a crowd to start cheering, Lance would have been disappointed. As it was, he could hardly remember what he was feeling and thinking, his mind consumed with the idea of Keith. Keith’s lips, Keith’s breath against his cheek, Keth’s hand on his neck, his fingers sliding through Keith’s hair. He was letting Lance have what he needed, anything he wanted. Finally, Lance pulled away slowly and Keith let him, his hand sliding from Lance’s neck over his shoulder and down his arm, letting their fingers rest together on Lance’s leg. Looking down, Lance slowly curled their fingers together into a loose hold before looking at Keith. Those dark eyes were already on him, still waiting patiently but he looked like he was about to jump out of his skin with everything he wanted to say. Despite himself, Lance couldn't help but laugh at that face. Leaning in he brushed their noses together, pecking Keith’s lips and marveling at the fact that he could do this now. 

“I’m sorry,” he murmured quietly. He didn’t pull away, eyes closed as he rested his forehead against Keith’s. “I’m sorry I didn't say anything before, I’m sorry I assumed we both knew what was going on between us. I’m sorry we wasted so much time, I-”

Keith cut him off in the best way possible. Hands on either side of Lance’s face, Keith kissed him with an intensity Lance had never experienced before but it was everything he’d imagined when he thought of pulling Kieth close after a hard battle, after almost losing him, it was exactly what he had fantasized about when Keith finally returned looking so much older and more weary than before. 

_ Finally…. _

“Don’t,” Keith said firmly when his lips were no longer occupied. “Don’t start with that. I could have said something but I assumed too. I assumed you knew how I felt about you and I guess I was right but I also assumed I knew how you felt when I should have asked. If I had thought for a second that you weren’t happy I would have-”

It was Lance’s turn to cut Keith off, a finger placed gently on his lips and an amused glint in Lance's eye. “Don’t  _ you  _ start,” he murmured, expression almost tender. 

Keith ducked his head, glancing away and avoiding that look that sent warm bubbles from his stomach up to his chest. Lance’s hand found his again and gave a gentle squeeze. 

“I want you, Keith. I want you in my life more than what I have now. I want to be partners again, always.”

“Lance…” Keith whispered, cutting himself off as he swallowed hard. He was either going to tear up or die from trying to say what he wanted. “We never stopped being partners. I only ever wanted to do right by you, to be worth your time. I think…. I think maybe this time apart was good? It helped us both learn more about ourselves and what we really need but you’re right. It’s time we move forward. Together.”

  
  



End file.
